Carlos Alcaraz wins second US Open title, beating Jannik Sinner to become world No.1

The US Open men’s final was not even a game old when back-to-back points signalled what we were about to see for almost three hours.

By the end of it, Carlos Alcaraz had won his sixth grand slam title, second US Open and reclaimed the No.1 ranking from his great but vanquished rival Jannik Sinner in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 dismantling of incredible quality.

But first some context. Alcaraz and Sinner are running roughshod through tennis in the post-Big Three era, which includes the last rites of a 38-year-old Novak Djokovic, who is still better than everyone but the new kings of the sport.

The Alcaraz-Sinner rivalry, into its 15th chapter and already with a devoted Wikipedia page, is transcending tennis and so captivating that it has offset the inevitability and potential fatigue of their match-ups.

They contested their third-straight major final on Monday (AEST) – something no two men had done in a single season in tennis history – on Sinner’s beloved hardcourts, but Alcaraz was intent on making an early statement.

Alcaraz, who lost his Wimbledon crown to Sinner two months ago, had already forced the world No.1 to work overtime in his opening service game, but an ace had the Italian one point away from escaping danger.

Sinner sent down a great serve that Alcaraz fended off before whacking a cross-court forehand, only for the dazzling Spaniard to unleash a brutal forehand from metres behind the baseline that hurt the Italian and instantly neutralised the point.

They went back and forth, shot for shot, until Alcaraz uncorked a stinging 162 kilometre per hour forehand that Sinner could not retrieve.

On the next point, with neither player dictating, Sinner tried to hammer a down-the-line backhand but succeeded only in crashing the ball into the net. It was the type of rush-of-blood shot he would rarely attempt or miss against a lesser opponent, but a wonderful insight into the dynamics of this match-up.

Alcaraz, who did not drop a set and only twice conceded serve en route to the final, destroyed Sinner in an almost-flawless first-set masterclass where he thumped 11 winners and committed only two unforced errors.

Sinner responded by becoming the first player all tournament to take a set off Alcaraz – but that was as good as it got because Alcaraz’s third act was even better. He raced to a 4-0 lead and clinched the third set 6-1 in authoritative fashion.

Alcaraz blew Sinner off the court. It was unlike anything we have seen anyone else do to the Italian, or even either of them do to each other in their usually line-ball matches. He hit 42 breathtaking winners to 21.

Their spectacular, five-set Roland-Garros final showdown this year, where the Spaniard triumphed after saving three championship points, has an argument as one of the greatest matches ever, while their Wimbledon clash was pretty darn good, too.

But an Alcaraz uprising like this was probably inevitable. The theory on these players is that Alcaraz has a higher ceiling, but a wider margin between his best and worst (although this is closing).

And if the more-mechanical Sinner is Switzerland, then the artistic and heart-on-his-sleeve Alcaraz is Ibiza.

There were moments in Monday’s final where he appeared to borrow from Roger Federer’s playbook, whether it was an exquisite drop shot or an alarmingly good backhand slice. But Federer did not have Alcaraz’s power.

Australian Davis Cup great Paul McNamee has long been adamant that Alcaraz, who is 21 months younger than Sinner, is the superior player between the two, but the Italian’s reliability has helped him avoid the same upset defeats his rival has.

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Sinner’s record in the past two years against everyone not named Alcaraz is 109-4, whereas he has won only once in that time from eight meetings with Alcaraz.

“He’s just a different player – it’s very simple,” Sinner said afterwards of why Alcaraz is so much tougher than the mere mortals he typically demolishes on tour.

The problem for Sinner and everyone else is that Alcaraz is finding a way to win even on his lesser days. The Spaniard’s Wimbledon final defeat to Sinner was his only loss in his past 38 matches, and he leads the Italian 10-5 overall and has two more major titles.

There is still the slightest of asterisks on the No.1 ranking, even if Alcaraz has widened the gap in their head-to-head.

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Sinner has played far fewer matches and tournaments than Alcaraz this season because of his controversial three-month ban for twice testing positive to clostebol last year. Doping authorities effectively cleared the 24-year-old of wrongdoing, but still punished him for his former physiotherapist’s negligence.

That saga trashed Sinner’s reputation, fairly or not, but also gave Alcaraz the inside running on the No.1 ranking, so this is, in a way, a belated penalty.

He will have the chance to recoup those points after next year’s Australian Open.

In the meantime, Sinner must figure out his Alcaraz problem, which he will hope is not as big as it looked in New York, where he was the defending champion.

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